SB Nation Dallas - Cowboys Vs. Patriots Final: Tom Brady Leads Pats To 20-16 Comeback, Felix Jones Injuredhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48887/dallas-fave.png2011-10-18T20:18:36-05:00http://dallas.sbnation.com/rss/stream/22475352011-10-18T20:18:36-05:002011-10-18T20:18:36-05:00Cowboys Make Roster Moves To Supplement Offensive Line
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<p>Not sure whether or not LG <span>Derrick Dockery</span> will be medically cleared to resume practice, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/">Dallas Cowboys</a> made a couple moves in lieu of their tentative situation along the line. <span>Bill Nagy</span> suffered a broken ankle in the Cowboys 20-16 loss to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.patspulpit.com/">Patriots</a> on Sunday, and was subsequently placed on injured reserve today.</p>
<p>To fill his roster spot, Dallas resigned guard <span>Montrae Holland</span>, whom the team had released during training camp after he had reported overweight and suffered a back injury. The progress of his replacement, seventh-round pick Bill Nagy, while Holland was injured led to his dismissal despite the team already shelling out a half million dollar roster bonus. Now, the team will get a return on that investment.</p>
<p>In a somewhat surprise move, the team also released WR/KR <span>Dwayne Harris</span>, a sixth round pick from this past April's draft. Harris made big noise during the team's first preseason game, when he amassed 127 yards and two touchdowns. This report I filed for Blogging The Boys at the time ended up being the most fame that Harris would receive, as his playing time was drastically reduced after that game. He has been serving as the team's primary punt returner this season, and recently as their kick returner.</p>
<p>Harris returned 11 punts for only a 6.6 yard average, and has brought back three kickoffs over the last two games for a 24.7 average. Return duties may fall back to receivers <span>Kevin Ogletree</span> (kickoffs) and <span>Jesse Holley</span> (punts), with return man <span>DeMarco Murray</span> expected to take on a bigger role while <span>Felix Jones</span> is sidelined with a high ankle sprain.</p>
<p>Harris' dismissal allowed Dallas to bring in another veteran guard, <span>Daniel Loper</span>, who most recently spent time in camp with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/oakland-raiders">Oakland Raiders</a>.</p>
<p>For more on the comings and goings of the Dallas Cowboys, check out the SB Nation blog, <a target="_blank" href="http://bloggingtheboys.com">Blogging The Boys</a>.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/dallas-cowboys/2011/10/18/2499434/cowboys-make-roster-moves-to-supplement-offensive-lineKD Drummond2011-10-18T11:25:46-05:002011-10-18T11:25:46-05:00Note To Cowboys Phil Costa: Play Well, Then Talk
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<p><i>Story updated at 14:39ET</i></p>
<p>Before the New England game, little known (nationally) <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/">Dallas Cowboys</a> center <span>Phil Costa</span> made a bit of noise in the Twittersphere. Well, at least we <strike>think</strike> thought he did.</p>
<p>When asked on twitter by @DCFanaticsBlog about his upcoming matchup with the imposing <span>Vince Wilfork</span> of New England, Costa quipped with a bit of bravado.</p>
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<p><b>@dcfanaticsblog:</b> You ready for Wolfork big guy? He's a mountain. Good luck on Sunday Phil,"</p>
<p><b>@philcosta67:</b> appreciate it...of course im ready hes more like a speed bump than a mtn...#cowboys are ready to roll!</p>
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<p>Wilfork laughed it off when told about the tweet, basically saying the game was on the field.</p>
<p>Well Phil went out and had the worst day of any Cowboys lineman this entire season.That includes Bill Nagy's scary performance Week One against the Jets, and Doug Free's matador 49ers game that cost Tony Romo a piece of his lung.</p>
<p>ProFootballFocus.com released their individual player grades for the Cowboys-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.patspulpit.com/">Patriots</a> tilt, and it wasn't pretty for the offense. The only player that received an above average grade from the unit was quarterback Tony Romo. Costa was the worst of the bunch, grading out as a -6.3 for the game; -2.4 in pass protection and -3.6 in run blocking. If you're wondering why they don't add up, he also scored a -0.5 in screen blocking,but did manage a +0.2 on his penalty grade.</p>
<p>For those unfamiliar with the PFF grading system, they basically track each player on every play, assign a grade for how they performed their job and tally them up. They have a litany of categories they score in, and while no advanced metric is perfect, it does serve as a good measuring tool beyond the simple stats that can often be misleading. For more on their methods, <a target="_blank" href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.profootballfocus.com%2Fabout%2Fgrading%2F&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fdallas.sbnation.com%2Fdallas-cowboys%2F2011%2F10%2F18%2F2497960%2Fnote-to-cowboys-phil-costa-play-well-then-talk" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">go here</a>.</p>
<p>Costa surrendered three quarterback pressures and one hit on Romo, as well as playing the speed bump for a blitzing <span>Gary Guyton</span> on first down as the Cowboys tried to run out the clock. Guyton stopped Murray in the backfield for a loss of two.</p>
<p>I performed an analysis of the Cowboys offensive line performance against the Patriots for SB Nation's Dallas Cowboys blog, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/">Blogging The Boys</a>. It was horrible. Their play, not the written piece (I think). <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2011/10/17/2495245/tracking-the-cowboys-offensive-line-formations-and-play-calling">They accounted for 23 mistakes on the Cowboys 74 offensive snaps</a>.</p>
<p>On the other side of the line, Wilfork went out and scored his best grade of the season, a +2.9 that included a +3.3 run defense grade.</p>
<p>Now, Costa's twitter account was introduced by a young lady named Leigh Costa, <strike>whom we can only assume is related in some way to Phil. </strike>whom we've found out actually has no relation to Phil!</p>
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<p><span class="metadata"><span class="author"><a href="http://twitter.com/LeighCosta"><img src="http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/1316189912/IMG_1096_normal.JPG"></a><b><a href="http://twitter.com/LeighCosta">@LeighCosta</a></b><br>Leigh Costa</span></span> Dallas Cowboys starting center @<a href="http://twitter.com/PhilCosta67" title="PhilCosta67 on Twitter">PhilCosta67</a> is finally on twitter!<br><span class="embedly_timestamp"><a title="Tue Oct 11 19:12:37 +0000 2011" href="http://twitter.com/LeighCosta/status/123838433234927616">Oct 11</a> via web</span><span class="tweet-actions"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/favorite?tweet_id=123838433234927616" class="favorite-action" title="Favorite"><span><i></i><b>Favorite</b></span></a><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=123838433234927616" class="retweet-action" title="Retweet"><span><i></i><b>Retweet</b></span></a><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=123838433234927616" class="reply-action" title="Reply"><span><i></i><b>Reply</b></span></a></span></p>
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<p>After his trash talk, Costa's account was subsequently deleted, before the game, and hasn't been seen from since. It would be safe to assume that the second-year player learned his lesson the hard way. Maybe Coach Garrett caught wind and put down a "Cowboys Way" mandate. Let your play do the talking for you big guy.</p>
<p>[UPDATE]It has been pointed out that Costa (Phil) is saying that he did not tweet those words. He had hired a publicist named Leigh Costa who was manning the account and laid the smack down. Now, I'll leave it up to you to decide whom to believe by <a target="_blank" href="http://dcfanaticsblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/phil-costa-twitter-vince-wilfork.html">going to the page of the blogger that was interacting with Costa's twitter account</a>. The whole, 'it wasn't me who said it' thing has been played before but it could be true.[/UPDATE]</p>
<p>For more Cowboys daily news, analysis and conjecture, join me and the rest of the staff over at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/">Blogging The Boys</a>.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/dallas-cowboys/2011/10/18/2497960/note-to-cowboys-phil-costa-play-well-then-talkKD Drummond2011-10-17T16:27:24-05:002011-10-17T16:27:24-05:00Dallas Cowboys Trade Rumors: Could Tashard Choice Be Gone Tomorrow?
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<p>With <span>Felix Jones</span> locked into the RB1 position in the depth chart and rookie tailback Demarco Murray playing well in spots, <a href="https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Dallas Cowboys</a> owner Jerry Jones could be looking to move fourth-year running back <span>Tashard Choice</span> by tomorrow's trade deadline.</p>
<p><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/rumors/post/Cowboys-ready-to-trade-RB-Choice?urn=nfl-410433">Jones told NFL Network's Alex Flanagan</a> on NBC Sunday that he has received numerous calls on the availability of Choice and will consider dealing the running back back before Tuesday's trade deadline. Choice, has carried the ball 26 times for 67 yards through five games this season. In Sunday's game he carried the ball five times for 14 yards in a 20-16 loss to the <a href="https://www.patspulpit.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Patriots</a>.</p>
<p>Could Jones be legitimately fielding offers for Choice, or is this letting teams now that Choice is actually available?</p>
<p>Choice was drafted by the Cowboys in the 4th-round of the 2008 NFL Draft out of Georgia Tech and in his fourth-season he's carried the ball 248 times for 1,131 yards and 8 touchdowns.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/dallas-cowboys/2011/10/17/2496604/nfl-trade-rumors-cowboys-trade-deadline-newsEddie Maisonet2011-10-16T21:26:29-05:002011-10-16T21:26:29-05:00Jerry Jones Questions Playcalling After Loss.
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<p>Well, you knew this was coming. After blowing another late lead, Jerry Jones questioned the playcalling after the game. He suggested that the Cowboys went “conservative” down the stretch and wondered aloud why Garrett did not “run a little offense down there” with the game on the line.</p>
<p><a href="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/16/jerry-jones-cowboys-went-conservative-and-it-bit-us/" target="new">Michael Smith has the full quotes.</a></p>
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<p>“This game was decided right down there at the end, and I am so proud of these players, the way they competed tonight,” Jones said. “We rolled the dice at the end and went conservative rather than try to get some points and it bit us.”</p>
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<p>Whenever you get the ball into the hands of a player like Brady at home, you’ve got problems,” Jones said. “We are up here on their field and we knew what the odds were, so we flipped a coin and it came up against us. We know what [the Patriots] are about and we knew what our challenge was here. If you were in a playoff game, you’d probably drive it home. You always second guess whether or not we should have tried to run a little offense down there instead of running it three times.”</p>
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<p>The playcalling could certainly be called into question as Brett Perryman <a href="http://dallas.sbnation.com/2011/10/16/2494517/cowboys-fall-to-patriots-jason-garrett-asked-for-that-loss/in/2247535" target="new">pointed out</a>, but it’s never good when it’s your owner doing the questioning.</p>
<p>But we should be used to it by now. It’s just Jerry being Jerry.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/dallas-cowboys/2011/10/16/2494851/jerry-jones-questions-playcalling-after-losssprite2011-10-16T19:15:17-05:002011-10-16T19:15:17-05:00Jerry Jones: Bill Nagy Out For Season, Felix Jones Could Miss Next Week
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<p>If another close loss wasn’t enough, Jerry Jones disclosed to media after the Cowboys’ 20-16 loss to the Patriots that Bill Nagy did fracture his ankle late in the game and will miss the rest of the season. Nagy injured himself on the Cowboys’ 1st-goal screen pass to Martellus Bennett late in the fourth quarter. The play gained five yards, but Dallas was unable to score from there, and Tom Brady led the New England on a late TD drive to win the game.</p>
<p>Nagy surprisingly won a starting job as a 7th round draft pick after barely playing at Wisconsin. Leonard Davis was released at the start of training camp, and Andre Gurode was let go just after the club’s final preseason game. That left Phil Costa as the starter at center and Nagy fighting with fellow rookie David Arkin and newly signed Derrick Dockery for the starting job at left guard. Nagy won the battle and had been the starter.</p>
<p>Jones also said that Felix Jones’ high ankle sprain, suffered in the first half, could keep him from playing next week at home against the Rams. Tashard Choice and DeMarco Murray filled in for Jones the rest of the way today.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/dallas-cowboys/2011/10/16/2494602/jerry-jones-bill-nagy-out-for-season-felix-jones-could-miss-next-weekBrett Perryman2011-10-16T19:05:02-05:002011-10-16T19:05:02-05:00Cowboys Fall To Patriots: Jason Garrett Asked For That Loss
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/">Cowboys</a> had a real chance to win in Foxboro and end <span>Tom Brady's</span> home winning streak, but Jason Garrett took the role that <span>Tony Romo</span> had played two weeks ago and shot his team in the foot. Let's get this out of the way first: once you're unable to score a touchdown from 2nd-goal at the five, you're probably going to lose that game. Garrett's play call on 3rd-goal was conservative and relied on fooling the interior of the New England defense. It didn't work. Fine. </p>↵<p>His defense offered him one last unexpected lifeline, though, and instead of taking that bull by the horns, Garrett backed off and said 'I'll take my defense against Tom Brady in Foxboro on one final drive to win the game.' I don't care how much Garrett believes in his defense, you can't make that decision. </p>↵<p>Garrett's approach Sunday - running right into the Patriots front, which had stuffed him all day and was clearly geared up to stop the run on that drive - was clearly in response to Romo's struggles with leads in New York and against Detroit, but he changed approaches at the worst time imaginable. Going conservative with a lead against <span>Mark Sanchez</span> makes a lot of sense. Going conservative with a big lead against a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.prideofdetroit.com/">Lions</a> offense that had no momentum makes some sense. Doing what he did today makes zero sense. <br><br>You're 1st-10 at your 28 with 3:36 remaining with a three-point lead and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.patspulpit.com/">Patriots</a> have all of their timeouts remaining. Throwing the ball behind your iffy offensive line means that bad things could happen. Romo could throw an interception, and, more likely, if you call a play with a real chance at picking up a first down, you have a good chance of an incompletion and a stopped clock. </p>↵<p>The alternative, though, is giving Brady just enough time to beat you - and he's almost always going to do that, even against defenses better than yours. Stopping the clock actually isn't that bad of a thing in that instance because the reality is that you want some time on the clock anyway, if your passes are incomplete and the Patriots do score. </p>↵<p>Garrett was looking at a hand stacked against him whichever way he went, but any real chance of winning that game rested on finding a way to keep the ball away from Tom Brady. He didn't even try to do that, and he died the slow death he deserved to as a result.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/2011/10/16/2494517/cowboys-fall-to-patriots-jason-garrett-asked-for-that-lossBrett Perryman2011-10-16T18:26:19-05:002011-10-16T18:26:19-05:00Cowboys Vs. Patriots Final: Tom Brady Leads Game Winning Comeback Drive, New England Wins 20-16
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<p>Tom Brady captured his 115th regular season win with a vintage comeback drive, down three points with under three minutes to play, to lead New England to a 20-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys.</p>
<p>Tony Romo had an All-Pro afternoon, finishing 27 of 41 for 317 yards, one touchdown and one interception, but couldn’t respond to Brady’s game winning drive down four with 22 seconds left. The Cowboys would settle for field goals instead of touchdowns in the red zone on three drives Sunday – twice after intercepting Brady.</p>
<p>The Cowboys managed only 87 yards rushing after starting running back Felix Jones went down with a sprained left ankle before halftime. DeMarco Murray finished with 32 yards on ten carries.</p>
<p>The Dallas defense held New England scoreless until Brady’s final drive, an 80-yard effort that followed a Cowboys field goal.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/dallas-cowboys/2011/10/16/2494488/cowboys-vs-patriots-final-tom-brady-leads-game-winning-comeback-driveSteven Godfrey2011-10-16T18:03:58-05:002011-10-16T18:03:58-05:00Cowboys Vs. Patriots Score: Dallas Takes Its First Lead Of The Game, 16-13
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<p>Since throwing an interception on the game’s first drive, Tony Romo has been on fire for the Cowboys – he just can’t find the end zone. Dallas settled for another field after another red zone stall killed a long drive started by a Tom Brady interception, and now lead the Patriots 16-13.</p>
<p>Romo has hit ten different receivers for 286 yards, including 152 combined yards for Dez Bryant (four for 78) and Miles Austin (seven for 74).</p>
<p>Dallas’ defense held New England to a three-and-out following the field goal, and now have possession at their own 28-yard-line with 3:36 remaining in the game.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/dallas-cowboys/2011/10/16/2494455/cowboys-vs-patriots-score-dallas-takes-its-first-lead-of-the-game-16Steven Godfrey